The present invention relates generally to bicycle accessory carriers and, more particularly, to a bicycle pannier mounting system.
Interest in recreational and/or competitive cycling continues to increase. The consequence of this popularity of bicycle riding has been a growing presence of bicycle operators or riders or cyclists, of all ages, on public roads or off road trails. Further, as the recreation has grown, typical bicycle excursions or trips have lengthened in extent and, concomitantly a great variety of lighter, multi-geared and faster bicycles have entered the marketplace. Increasingly, as the utility and recreation of bicycling experiences resurgence, trips of longer durations and distances are common as is rider preference to carry several accessories with them during such trips. Increasing, riders in urban as well as nearby suburban areas have returned to bicycling as an efficient and inexpensive means to commute to and from work.
Traditionally, a bicycle rack that extended rearward of the seat, or racks or baskets that extended forward relative to the handlebars along the front wheel were sufficient to satisfy the accessory carrying needs of many riders. However, such systems are not without their respective drawbacks. Commonly, transporting materials in such racks required that the materials first be packaged in a portable container such as a duffle bag or backpack to allow the user to conveniently transport the materials upon arriving at a destination. Furthermore, such supplemental packaging was often required to protect the materials from the environment associated with the ride, i.e. inclement weather conditions and/or road debris thrown up by the tires. Furthermore, such racks had limited capacity in as much as the rider could carry as many materials as would securely remain on the rack or the basket.
A saddle bag system or a pannier commonly interacts with such racks and increases the functionality and utility of the accessory carrying system by only minimally interfering, if at all, with the capacity of the rack. Many panniers commonly include a catch or latch system that secures the pannier container to the bicycle rack. Unfortunately, such mounting systems are commonly configured to interact with specific rack constructions. That is, the securing means associated with the pannier is often tailored to engage a rack rail having a specific cross-sectional shape. Such a feature significantly limits the functionality of the pannier system by limiting the pannier to use with a given user's rail configuration.
Many such systems also commonly require the independent manipulation of multiple fasteners for securing the pannier to the rack. Although other systems have reduced the number of independently operable clamp systems or provide systems having multiple clamps that can be manipulated by a common operator, such pannier mounting systems commonly require interaction with other mounting means that remain secured to the bicycle even after the pannier is removed. Such systems thereby limit the use of the pannier to the bicycle equipped with the mounts lest the mounts be moved from bicycle to bicycle.
Although pannier systems having multiple clamps that are controlled by a common operator reduce the ambidexterity required to secure the pannier to the bicycle, each of the above systems can suffer from undesired disengagement of the pannier system from the bicycle. As the bicycle travels along a road, the pannier mounting system must be able to withstand accelerations of the pannier due by road conditions. Although a pannier mounting system having one or more open faced hooks can be conveniently suspended from a rack of a bicycle and are convenient for trips over generally smooth surfaces, longer trips, or trips over more uneven road surfaces require robust means for attaching the pannier to the rack. Although a number of pannier mounting systems include latches that can secure the relative position of the pannier, such systems commonly require independent operation of the latch and/or remain susceptible to becoming loose due to road vibration or the like.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a pannier mounting system that is simple to operate, can be secured to carrier rack rails having a variety of constructions, can be used with more than one bicycle, and can be single-handedly operated.